Safety shoe construction



May 24, 1966 R. A. SMITH 3,

SAFETY SHOE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 28, 1964 2 SheetsSheet 1 FIG. 1 l5 FIG. 2

I N VEN TOR.

A T TOPNEYS R. A. SMITH 3,

SAFETY SHOE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec.

2 Sheet 2 INVENT A RA/E Y3 United States Patent 3,252,232 SAFETY SHOE CONSTRUCTION Roy A. Smith, Redwing, Minn., assignor to Red Wing Shoe Company, Inc, Red Wing, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed Dec. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 421,437 4 Claims. (Cl. 36-72) This invention pertains generally to a novel safety shoe and more particularly to a safety shoe having a new and improved metatarsal shield connected thereon and an improved metal toe as well as a method for connecting the metatarsal shield thereon.

-In prior art safety shoes a metatarsal shield is generally connected as a portion of the shoe during manufacture of the shoe. In these prior art shoes much extra construction, material and expense are required in providing the metatarsal shield on the shoe. In addition, because the metatarsal shield must be movable to allow the shoe to receive a foot and because the metatarsal shield in the prior art safety shoes is a portion of the shoe, there is generally a tendency for dirt and the like to accumulate between the metatarsal shield and the shoe and sparks or the like can damage the threads connecting the shield. Also, the metal toe is generally held in place by additional pieces of material which require much additional work to fix in place and have a tendency to wear more quickly because of the additional sewing required.

In the present invention a safety shoe is provided with a downwardly opening pocket at the toe for receiving a forwardly converging metal cup. The pocket is produced by constructing the toe portion of the shoe upper of two overlayed portions of leather or like material. A small piece of pliable material, such as leather, is fixedly attached to the upper surface of the upper portion of the shoe at approximately the rearward end of the pocket. This small piece of pliable material operates as a hinge and the leaf which is not connected to the shoe is disposed toward the toe of the shoe. A forwardly converging metal cup, which is a metal toe for the shoe, is placed in the downwardly opening pocket and a sole is connected to the upper portion of the shoe in the usual manner. The sole effectively closes the pocket so that the metal cup or toe is maintained immovable in the desired position.

A metatarsal shield, which may be made of metal or any suitable high impact resistant, slow burning plastic material, is formed to substantially the contour of the metatarsal region of said shoe. The lower end of the shield is fixedly connected to the free leaf of the pliable hinge and the other end of the shield has a tied-down loop thereon through which the shoestring is passed to hold it in place. Therefore, the hinge is bent over and the portion connected to the shoe upper is covered by the shield so that it cannot be damaged by sparks or the like.

Thus, the presently disclosed safety shoe has a new and novel metal toe construction which is simpler and more easily constructed than in prior art safety shoes and also includes a metatarsal shield which is connected to the safety shoe after the shoe is assembled. Because of the manner in which the metatarsal shield is connected to the safety shoe there is no area in which dirt and the like will accumulate, there is no exposed portions of the hinge which can be damaged by sparks or the like, and the entire shoe is extremely simple .to construct.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved safety shoe.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a safety shoe having a metal shoe therein which is simpler to construct and more rugged than prior art safety shoes.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro- 3,252,232 Patented May 24, 1966 vide a safety shoe having a metatarsal shield connected externally thereto by means of a pliable hinge.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claims, and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view in perspective of the pliable hinge;

FIG. 2 is an assembled view in perspective of the pliable hinge;

FIG. 3 is a top plan of the upper of a safety shoe having the pliable hinge attached thereto, portions thereof broken away;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the long-itudinal axis of a shoe embodying the present invention, portions thereof broken away; and

FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a completely assembled safety shoe.

The numeral 10 designates the shoe upper which is composed of some pliable material such as flexible leather prior to lasting or forming. The shoe upper 10 at the toe portion thereof is formed of two pieces of material 11, which is the inner portion, and 12, which overlays 11 to form a downwardly opening pocket therebetween, see FIG. 4. Before any of the sole assembly is attached to the shoe upper 10 a pliable hinge 13 is attached thereto in a manner to be described in more detail below.

An example of a pliable hinge construction is shown in FIG. 1. Two pieces 14 and 15 of a pliable material, such as flexible leather, are cut with similar dimensions and placed together with the smooth or grain side facing outwardly. The two pieces 14 and 15 are then fixedly connected together by some means such as sewing, as shown in FIG. 2. In the present embodiment of the hinge 13 the two pieces 14 and 15 are cut from a somewhat rectangularly shaped portion of material with a centrally located notch cut from either end thereof so that the central portion of the hinge 13 is much shorter. The corners of the hinge 13 are rounded, thus, forming a pair of lobes at either end of the rectangle. Each pair of oppositely positioned lobes form one leaf of the hinge 13. Thus, the hinge 13 has a first leaf 16 and a second leaf 17 with a portion, which acts as a pin-tle, therebetween having a greatly reduced length so that it may bend easily when the leaves 16 and 17 of the hinge 13 are aifixed to arcuate surfaces, such as the toe portion of the upper 10 and the metatarsal shield to be explained later. By having the central portion of the hinge substantially shorter than the leaves 16 and 17 it is more nearly straight, although the leaves 16 and 17 are arcuate (when fixedly attached to arcuate surfaces), and, therefore, it will bend with a minimum of binding. It should be understood that the embodiment of the hinge 13 just described is used for explanational purposes only and is not meant to limit this invention.

After the hinge 13 is constructed in the desired form it is connected to the shoe upper 10 by some means such as rivets 18 and/or sewing. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 it can be seen that the hinge 13 is connected to the upper 10 approximately centrally near the upper end of the pocket formed by portions 11 and 12 of the upper 10. The leaf 16 of the hinge 13 is fixedly attached to the portion 12 of the upper 10 and the leaf 17 is disposed toward the toe, or the forward end, of the upper 10.

A forwardly converging metal cup 19 is placed in the pocket formed by the portions 11 and 12 of the upper 10 and provides a metal toe for the safety shoe. The metal cup 19 is formed to fit snugly into the pocket and the open end thereof extends rearwardly beyond the fixedly attached leaf 16 of hinge 13.

After the metal cup 19 is inserted in the pocket formed by the portions 11 and 12, a last 20 is placed in the upper and an inner sole 21, the upper 10 and a Welt 22 are stitched together, as indicated at 23. The stitching indicated at 23 seals the pocket between the portions 11 and 12 in the upper 10 thereby maintaining the metal cup 19 immovable. Any conventional sole may now be placed on the shoe as for example the upper sole 24 which is connected to the welt 22 by stitching, as indicated at 25, after which a lower sole 26 is fixedly attached thereto by some means such as gluing or vulcanizing.

A rigid metatarsal shield 30, which may be formed from any suitable high impact resistant, slow burning plastic material, metal, or the like, is fixedly attached to the leaf 17 of the hinge 13 by means of rivets 31. The leaf 17 of hinge 13 is bent backward toward the rear of the shoe and attached to the upper surface of the metatarsal shield 30, as shown in FIG. 5. The upper surface of the metatarsal shield 30 is smooth to encourage glancing oif of any heavy object which may come in contact therewith. The under surface of the shield 30 has adhered thereto a layer of compressible porous sheeting 32 of sponge rubber or the like for the purpose of absorbing impact. Also, a tie-down loop 33 is fixedly attached to the upper edge of the shield 30 by means of rivet 34. Tie-down loop 33 is provided for insertion of the shoestring therethrough to hold the upper end of the shield 30 in place.

As can be seen in FIG. 4 the metatarsal shield 30 is attached to the upper 10 by the hinge 13 slightly forward -of the end of metal cup 19. Therefore, a portion of the metatarsal shield 30 overlaps the metal cup 19 which supports one end thereof and partially absorbs shock from objects striking the shield 30 and provides a continuous safety shield for the forward part of the foot.

Thus, a safety shoe is disclosed which embodies a metal toe 19 that is easily and ruggedly constructed as an integral portion of the shoe. The safety shoe further embodies a metatarsal shield 30 which is pivotally attached to the upper 10 of the safety shoe by means of the externally located hinge 13. Also, the hinge 13 is bent over so that the portion connected to the shoe upper is under the shield and, therefore, no threads are in a position where they can be burned or damaged by sparks or the like. Thus, a unique method of connecting a metatarsal shield and incorporating a metal toe into a safety boot is disclosed. Besides being easier to construct than the prior art safety shoes the present shoe has the advantage that dirt and foreign objects will not have a tendency to collect beneath the metatarsal shield 30 and the shield connection cannot be loosened or damaged by sparks or the like.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of this invention, further modifications and im provements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be. understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

1 claim:

1. A safety shoe comprising:

(a) a pliable upper having a downwardly opening pocket in the toe portion thereof for receiving a forwardly converging metal cup;

(b) a pliable hinge member fixedly attached by one leaf to said pliable upper and positioned on the outer surface thereof near the upper end of said pocket, the other leaf of said hinge member being disposed toward the toe portion of said upper;

' (c) a forwardly converging metal cup disposed in said pocket of said upper;

(d) a sole;

(e) means fixedly attaching said upper to said sole in a manner to seal said pocket thereby maintaining said metal cup immovable therein; and

(f) a rigid metatarsal shield conforming substantially to the contour of the metatarsal region of said upper fixedly attached to said other leaf of said hinge member, said shield having a tie-down loop at the upper end thereof.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the pliable hinge is composed of two similar pieces of leather fixedly joined in overlaying relationship with the grained sides facing outwardly.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the shield has a coating of compressible porous material on the underside thereof.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the pliable hinge member has a first and second leaf portion each attached to an arcuate surface and a pintle section having a substantially reduced dimension with respect to said leaves for joining said leaves in a relative pivotal arrangement whereby to permit free pivotal movement of one leaf with respect to the other leaf.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,082,553 3/ 1963 Wilmanns 3672 3,101,559 8/1963 Smith 3672 3,108,386 .10/1963 MacQuaid 36-.-72

FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SAFETY SHOE COMPRISING: (A) A PLIABLE UPPER HAVING A DOWNWARDLY OPENING POCKET IN THE TOE POTION THEREOF FOR RECEIVING A FORWARDLY CONVERGING METAL CUP; (B) A PLIABLE HINGE MEMBER FIXEDLY ATTACHED BY ONE LEAF TO SAID PLIABLE UPPER AND POSITIONED ON THE OUTER SURFACE THEREOF NEAR THE UPPER END OF SAID POCKET THE OTHER LEAF OF SAID HINGE MEMBER BEING DISPOSED TOWARD THE TOE PORTION OF SAID UPPER; (C)E A FORWARDLY CONVERGING METAL CUP DISPOSED IN SAID POCKET OF SAID UPPER; (D) A SOLE; (E) MEANS FIXEDLY ATTACHING SAID UPPER TO SAID SOLE IN A MANNER TO SEAL SAID POCKET THEREBY MAINTAINING SAID METAL CUP IMMOVABLE THEREIN; AND (F) A RIGID METATARSAL SHIELD CONFORMING SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE CONTOUR OF THE METATARSAL REGION OF SAID UPPER FIXEDLY ATTACHED TO SAID OTHER LEAF OF SAID HINGE MEMBER, SAID SHIELD HAVING A TIE-DOWN LOOP AT THE UPPER END THEREOF. 